Time To Leave This World Behind
by SameDestination
Summary: Dean's finding it hard to accept that maybe this time, the Earth really can't be saved. End of the world,AU


**Warnings: **Character deaths.

**Spoilers: **Up to 7x10 'Death's Door'

**Author's Notes: **This was the first Supernatural fic I ever wrote. So, excuse the terrible writing.

* * *

**Thursday, 20th December 2012:**

Dean hadn't slept in days and his body was starting to become immune to the caffeine in his coffee. Every morning for the past month had been exactly the same for him. Get up. Get dressed. Get coffee. Research. It was starting to take its toll on the hunter who was now sat in a cold motel room somewhere in the middle of Kansas rubbing the sleep out of his tired eyes. The laptop sat on the table informed him of more earthquakes which had taken place in various countries all around the world. California had been hit a few hours ago by a powerful 8.5. Japan by a 7.5. New Zealand by a 5. He slammed the screen down, letting out a frustrated sigh.

The world was in a state of chaos. Within the last 6 months the number of earthquakes, tsunamis, volcano eruptions and other global catastrophes had almost quadrupled. Millions of innocent people were dying every day. Conspiracy theorists had gone crazy online. Numerous websites had been spammed beyond capacity with warnings that 'the end is nigh'. The worst thing about the whole situation was that Dean didn't have a clue where it had all came from. He had contacted every hunter possible to no avail.

"Hey," Sam said entering the room with two bags of bagels.

"It's getting worse," Dean mumbled, snatching a bag from his little brother's hand and stuffing the cheese-filled bagel into his mouth.

"I know, I heard about California."

Sam looked just as tired as Dean felt. His usually tidy hair was scruffy and stubble was beginning to form on his cheeks. When he looked at Dean his eyes were far wearier than Dean had ever seen them before. This scared him. Sam was his little brother, he was meant to keep him safe. What if they get caught in a disaster? What would he do then?

When he finished his bagel he proceeded to switch on the old tv set sat in the middle of their room. After flipping through several channels he finally settled on CNN news channel.

There was a blonde haired reporter clutching a microphone. What lay behind her did not look like California. There was rubble, people with tears streaming down their faces searching for loved ones, fire-brigades were squealing in the distance and there was smoke in the air. It didn't look like California. It looked like a post-apocalyptic world.

_"An estimated five-million people are now thought to be missing and a further six-million, and counting, have been killed."_

The camera then panned across the landscape. The devastation seemed to transfer from inside the television to the motel room. Dean sat down on the bed rubbing his mouth nervously. The fact that this had happened in his own country only added to the shock.

Then, something caught Dean's eye. The camera passed two young boys, one no older than 10 and the other about 5 years old. The older one was clutching onto the younger boy's hand as they made their way through the rubble. Dean didn't see these two boys. He saw himself running out of a burning house 20 years earlier. He remembered the fear he felt. The determination to keep his little brother safe. Tears filled his eyes. He knew how that little boy must be feeling.

"We've gotta do something, man."

"Like what, Dean?" Sam sighed. "Aren't we already doing enough? We've got every hunter in the country on our side. We can't do anymore."

"No, there has to be something," he said before storming out of the motel room into the unseasonably warm weather.

He stood silently for a while, watching a butterfly disappear into the distance. There was only one more person he could turn to right now. Someone he could rely on. Someone he could trust.

"Cas!" he shouted staring up into the cloudy sky. "I need your help."

Less than a minute passed before a familiar flapping sound filled the air and Castiel appeared stood in front of him. Dean took a few steps forward before shooting Cas a warm but nervous smile.

"Hello, Dean," Cas said, his voice deep and interested. "What can I do for you?"

"Why is this happening?"

Castiel stood in silence for a few seconds before his eyebrows furrowed and his head tilted. He looked undeniably confused.

"The earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes. Tell me you've noticed these things, Cas 'cause they're not normally this bad."

The angel's stance relaxed and his expression hardened. "I have noticed."

"Then, what can we do about them? What monster we gotta gank this time?"

"I... don't know." Cas admitted, lowering his head.

Dean gaped at him. "You don't know? C'mon, Cas. You're my last hope here!" He looked at the angel with desperation in his eyes. "If you don't know why this is happening, then what is the point in you? You're meant to keep the Earth safe, aren't you?"

Castiel stayed silent as Dean's face turned white. He felt as though all his hope was slowly slipping away. Sam was in that motel room thinking things were gonna be okay. But, right now, it looked as though things were going to be far from 'okay'.

"CAS!" Dean shouted frustratedly.

"There's nothing more I can do. I've tried, I assure you, I have," he said almost pleading for Dean not to lose faith in him. "But, I'll keep trying. I'll do everything in my power to save this planet. You know that, Dean."

Dean sighed. "If you can't save us, no one can. You understand that, right? So, don't let me down," he said before turning around and heading back into the motel room.

* * *

Later that night Dean sat watching Sam sleep. He looked so much more peaceful than usual. He watched his brother's chest rise and fall slowly. Sam was the only reason he wasn't giving up. Truth was, if Sam wasn't here he would have thrown in the towel long ago. He was staying strong for his little brother, because that's what their parents would've wanted.

_"Take your brother outside as fast as you can! Don't look back! Now, Dean! Go!"_

His father's voice echoed through his head as he took a swig of whiskey from a glass. Dean didn't know what to do and that terrified him. He'd been trying to tell himself that everything would be fine and that this time next week they'd be back on the road, 'team free will', saving the world as they go. But somehow, deep down, he knew this time was different.

Eventually his thoughts turned to his life. Everything that had happened and everyone that he'd ever cared about. Lisa and Ben, he hadn't seen them since he made the painful decision to erase him from their memories. His eyes stung with tears as he remembered them. He didn't know if they were still alive but even if they were, they were going to die a horrible death all because he couldn't figure out what to do. He then remembered how Ellen and Jo died a horrible death. Bobby, his parents and a whole bunch of others had all died when he could've saved them. It was all on him. And now, 7 billion others were about to be added to this list.

Dean watched as the red numbers on the digital clock sat upon the bedside table flickered silently from 23:59 to 00:00. The twenty-first of December, two-thousand-and-twelve.

* * *

**Friday 21st December 2012:**

When Dean awoke after a two hour nap he stood up and headed towards the window. Morning light was only beginning to filter through the fields in front of the motel. Yesterday was unseasonably mild with temperatures hitting twenty-degrees Celsius at times. But, when Dean stared out the window that morning he felt as though he was in a different country. The fields were covered in a deep blanket of fresh white snow.

A few minutes later, Dean was startled when the door knocked, waking Sam out of his deep sleep. He walked cautiously towards the door, his hand curling instinctively around the gun in his back pocket. He unlocked the door only to find the motel owner stood with an anxious look on his face.

"Mr Smith?" he asked, looking down at a piece of paper in his hands.

"Yeah?"

"I have to inform you that I'm going home to spend time with my family. So, you guys can stay here as long as you like, just lock up after yourselves when you go."

"Okay, thanks."

"Let's hope we get through this craziness."

"Yeah, good luck."

"You too."

Dean closed the door, taking a deep breath to compose himself. Sam was now sat upright watching the television, a look of concern on his face. On the screen were scenes of forest fires and tornadoes. Sam then got out of bed and headed towards the window. He placed both hands on the window-sill and lowered his head.

"It's gonna be okay, Sammy," he said trying hard to convince himself just as much as he was trying to convince his brother.

"No, it's not, Dean."

"Don't you dare give up, Sam."

"Everyone else has."

"Stop it, man!" Dean's voice was now trembling.

"It's over, Dean! Everything's over!"

"No!" Dean shouted. "I'm gonna fix this!"

"How?" Sam screamed, turning around with tears in his eyes. "You can't do anything, Dean. Face it; you can't save the world this time."

Sam then stormed out of the motel room and drove away in Dean's car. Dean sighed and grabbed a bottle of whiskey out of a cabinet. He then started gulping the liquid straight from the bottle. The whiskey stung his throat as it made its way down.

* * *

Dean was doing everything he could. Watching every news channel on television. Scouring every website on the net. All he found was news of devastation, destruction and death.

Suddenly, a news flash appeared on television. Dean scrambled over to the TV set and turned up the volume with the remote. A man sat in front of a large blue background with the NASA logo printed on it. He looked sombre and tired. He took a deep breath before beginning,

_ "Over the past few months, we've been tracking a large meteor. At first, we thought it would pass Earth unnoticed and therefore we thought it would be unnecessary to cause wide-spread panic. Over the past few hours, the 10kilometre wide meteor has shown no signs of changing course. We've done everything in our power to find a way to stop this. But, we're 99% sure the meteor will... collide with the Earth within the next hour." He removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes. "We apologize greatly. The meteor is travelling at such as speed that it may... wipe out all life on this planet."_

After this, the screen went black and commercials began to play. Dean froze for a minute. _The world was going to end_. It didn't sink in at first. He took a few more sips of whiskey before heading towards the bathroom.

He stood staring at his reflection in the mirror. Then, suddenly he found himself slamming his fist into the mirror causing it to shatter into many tiny pieces. There really was nothing he could do this time.

* * *

Eventually he heard the motel door open and shut. He returned to the room to find Sam with tears running down his face. He looked at Dean with fear and desperation in his eyes.

"Dean," he squeaked.

There was nothing Dean could say this time. So, instead he flung himself forward and wrapped both arms tightly around his little brother who did the same to him.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered, tears threatening to spill from his eyes at any second.

"It's not your fault."

"I know, but... Don't be scared, okay? I'm here."

When they pulled away, Dean poured Sam a glass of whiskey and finished the bottle off himself. He unplugged everything and told Sam not to watch anything else. It terrified him enough so it must be scaring Sam even more. He then told him he'd be back soon and headed out into the freezing weather.

Staring up at the clouded sky he began to cry. Tears just would not stop spilling from his eyes as he hiccupped and held his arms around himself. He felt so terrified, so alone, so helpless. He was crying so hard that he missed the sound of wings flapping. When a comforting hand rested itself on his shoulder he jumped slightly and saw Castiel stood beside him, a sad expression on his face.

"I have failed you." he said sincerely.

Dean stayed silent, trying hard to stop crying.

"I'm so sorry, Dean. I have let you down."

"No," Dean breathed. "You haven't. There was nothing you could do."

Cas sighed. "Are you okay?"

Dean shot him a look. "Just peachy," he smirked. "Listen, Cas. I need you to know something."

Cas watched him captivatedly.

"You've done so much for me and Sam, I could never be angry with you. You're my best friend and... I love you, man," he said before grabbing Castiel and holding him close to him.

"I... love you too, Dean," Cas said, holding Dean just as close.

When they broke their intimate moment Dean looked at him seriously. "I need you to do one last thing for me, Cas."

* * *

And, so it came to be that Dean, Castiel and Sam sat on a couch in an old motel room, comfortably reminiscing. Even though a blizzard blew outside the window they'd all never felt this warm inside. Eventually Dean turned to look at Sam.

"Sammy, you've been the best little brother any guy like me could ever ask for. I wouldn't change a thing." He paused. "Which is why I can't watch you die a horrible death."

Sam's eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"Cas is gonna put you to sleep."

Sam then winced and got up. "No! No, Dean! I'm not gonna leave without you!"

"Sam!"

"I mean it, Dean. If we're gonna go down. We're going down together."

Dean just sighed and smiled warmly. "Bitch."

"...Jerk"

Cas sat watching his favourite humans fondly as they curled up together on the couch. A loud rumbling sound came from outside and the room began to shake around them. Sam closed his eyes tightly as Dean kissed his forehead. Cas turned around to look out the window. Dean could see the fear in his eyes.

"Cas!" he called.

Cas turned to face Dean who had just as much fear in his own green eyes which glistened with tears. Before Cas could say anything, Dean's lips crashed into his own and his eyes closed comfortably. Even though the rumble of the meteor hurtling towards Earth was getting increasingly louder, Dean couldn't hear anything but his own heart beating fast and slow at the same time.

Dean Winchester was with the only people who mattered to him right now. As the end got closer and closer, Dean felt something deep inside his heart that he had never felt before. He felt peace.


End file.
